Mex Cooper and Julia Medew

Euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke has accused Customs officials of accessing hundreds of patients' sensitive records on his laptop after detaining him at Melbourne Airport on Tuesday morning.

Speaking from a plane about to fly to Los Angeles, Dr Nitschke said he had only just made his flight after he and his wife were kept by custom and immigration officials for 45 minutes.

Dr Nitschke, the founder and director of right-to-die group Exit International, said his laptop and mobile phone were taken from him after he was stopped about 10.30am.

He said he was told he had been picked out at random to see if he was leaving Australia with excess cash and that his devices were taken to confirm his phone was not stolen.

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"I don't believe that at all. It was not random, they were looking through a lot of material and there is a degree of anxiety that they were copying it," he said.

Dr Nitschke said he had handed over passwords to the devices that were taken out of the room where he was held.

He said hundreds of patients' records were kept on his laptop and included names, addresses and other personal information.

"It is medical records, lots of Australians' and Americans' medical records who are wanting access to euthanasia," he said.

Customs refuses to comment on individual passengers, a spokeswoman said.

Dr Nitschke said in the past he had experienced difficulties entering countries but never leaving. His luggage had already boarded the plane and had not been searched.

"I can't wait to get out of [Australia] now," he said.

Dr Nitschke is travelling to the United States with his wife. He said he would be undertaking some activities in relation to his euthanasia work but was mostly going for a holiday.

"I'm very upset about it. There was a great degree of hostility and anger there and I was accused of being angry and less than cooperative when they asked for my passwords," he said.

Dr Nitschke said he would be consulting his lawyers to see if there was anything he could about the incident.

Fairfax Media understands Dr Nitshcke is currently being investigated by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency for attempting to import a potentially fatal sedative for a terminally ill patient who died in South Australia in December 2011.

In 2012, The Advertiser newspaper reported that police attached to the Coroner’s office planned to interview Dr Nitschke to determine if he had played any role in the woman’s death. It also reported that the woman, who had motor neurone disease, had claimed in a letter that she had obtained fatal drugs to kill herself and resented being made to feel like a criminal in the process. It is unclear where the coronial investigation is at.

Fairfax Media also understands that AHPRA is investigating Dr Nitschke over allegations he developed and is marketing a nitrogen delivery system called Max Dog Brewing solely for the purpose of suicide.

In a complaint to the agency, executive director of anti-euthanasia and assisted suicide group Hope, Paul Russell, said this may make him an unfit person to hold registration as a medical practitioner.

On Tuesday, Mr Russell said the investigation into his complaint continued. He said he did not know why Dr Nitschke had been detained by customs today, but said ‘‘by reputation alone... I don’t think he should be at all surprised that this will happen from time to time’’.

In the past, Dr Nitschke has been detained at various international airports while entering with materials for workshops and while carrying his controversial Peaceful Pill Handbook. Last year, he was detained at Gatwick airport in London and New Zealand’s Auckland international airport where authorities examined his luggage, including his computer.

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